Douglas Battista Share Tips for the New Business Traveler

Douglas Battista spends a great deal of his week traveling for his job as President of North America Field Operations for Jenny Craig. Over the last decade, he’s found there are a few “life hacks” that make business travel easier. In this brief discussion, Battista shares some secrets.

Q: Is it possible to avoid germs while traveling?

Douglas Battista: It’s not feasible to sidestep germs altogether, but you can defend yourself against them. I always pack hand sanitizer, bacitracin, and antibacterial wipes. Airplanes can be a melting pot of microorganisms just waiting to infect their next target: you. Use the bacitracin under your nails and coat the inside of your nose to kill germs before they have a chance to get cozy on your skin and in your lungs.

The Loneliest Generation: Douglas Battista on Social Media’s Influence on Social Connectivity

Feelings of isolation and exclusion can affect a person as much as physical pain, say researchers. Many experts have found a correlation between loneliness and health concerns that far outweigh obesity or smoking. Douglas Battista spent the early part of his career in human resources and says being socially isolated can affect a person’s job performance as well.

Loneliness, an emerging concern

According to Douglas Battista, loneliness is a problem exacerbated by modern life. But why? Many believe the changes in contemporary society where nuclear families are the norm and people often live long distances from extended family and friends is part of the problem. Others cite social media as the primary cause of loneliness, especially among teenagers and young adults.

Douglas Battista Lists 4 Ways to Keep Good Employees

Having a well-trained and educated staff is more important than ever, says HR professional Douglas Battista, and keeping them is vital to a company’s success. Here, Battista offers a rundown of four simple ways to keep employees on the clock and out of the competition’s labor force.

1. Reward outstanding behavior and achievements. Douglas Battista explains that many employees come in day after day, perform their specific job functions, and take home a paycheck. But, when someone truly makes an effort to go above and beyond, a token of appreciation is in order. This could be in the form of a small bonus, an invitation to lunch, or recognition during a company meeting.

Douglas Battista | Three Reasons Emails Don’t Solve Problems in the Workplace

Email is a great tool for spreading news, events, and announcements. It is not the most reliable form of communication when emotions may be involved, states Douglas Battista. Here, Battista explains three ways that emails are hindering workplace communication and preventing problems from being solved.

1. Emails tend to prevent us from relating to the other party/parties.

An email, by its very nature, is an impassive way to communicate. Words often lose meaning when they are received without the inflections in the sender’s voice or the expressions that give the words significance. Douglas Battista believes that real relationships, even temporary ones, are forged when each person hears the other out. Only then can the parties relate to each other and come to a place of understanding – which is where problem solving really begins.

Douglas Battista – Make Sure Your Boss Knows What You’re Doing All Day

According to Douglas Battista, when organizations assess talent and make decisions about raises and promotions, the people making the decisions are going through mental notes of their employee’s career—and what matters isn’t necessarily what their employee has actually done; it’s what they know about what their employee has done. So if others get the promotions or recognition you deserve, it could be because you’re not making your accomplishments known.

Q: How can employees make sure they get credit for their work?

Douglas Battista: It’s important for employees to keep their bosses informed. Unfortunately, many employees rarely speak to their managers.

Company Values Shape Employee Performance, Says Douglas Battista

A veteran HR professional and current President of North America Field Operations for Jenny Craig’s North American division, Douglas Battista believes that a company must instill and execute core values in order to remain competitive in today’s marketplace.

Values, says Douglas Battista, are at the core of the workplace. They define how a company operates and how employees and clients perceive corporate leaders. Without a defined set of values, it is difficult to outline and enforce expected and acceptable company behavior and even harder to encourage consistent employee performance.

Corporate culture

According to Douglas Battista, an identifiable company culture makes it possible for a smooth transition in the event of change. A defined set of values that is upheld, recognized, and rewarded ensures that employees continue to understand where their responsibilities lie, regardless of corporate situation. A corporate culture is shaped through recognizing behaviors that leadership wants to impart to workers. And, emphasizes Douglas Battista, these behaviors directly impact the company’s performance and bottom line.

Q&A with Douglas Battista: Talent Assessment Identifies Potential inFuture Employees

In the modern business world, a few wrong turns can lead to a full-blown disaster, says HR veteran Douglas Battista. Selecting the wrong candidate for top positions can cost a business millions of dollars. Companies can avoid a bad promotion or hire by establishing a talent assessment plan, according to Battista. This process ensures management is maximizing the distinct abilities of all employees in the organization.

Q: What exactly is a talent assessment?

Douglas Battista: Most companies don’t really know enough about who they are selecting for a position. A talent assessment test helps identify candidates that will be a good fit for openings at their company.

Q: What tools are used to accurately assess the talent?

Douglas Battista: As a rule of thumb, I recommend that companies rely on more than one assessment for critical talent decisions. To create the most complete assessment, management can assess such instruments as feedback surveys, trait-based assessments, psychometric tests and interviews. But note; no two organizations need exactly the same assessment plan.